Consumers must also take responsibility

House Editorial

She was our rock, our saving grace, our backbone when we didn't have one. She was Miss Cleo. But now it seems that Miss Cleo allegedly is nothing more than a Los Angeles-born woman "trading fortunes told for a fortune lost."

Call me for your $80 reading? According to the Nov. 15 issue of the Daily News-Record, "the companies behind Miss Cleo's psychic hotline (Access Resource Services Inc. and Psychic Reader's Network Inc.) agreed Thursday to forgive $500 million in customer bills to settle a federal lawsuit alleging they fleeced callers hoping to glimpse the future."

The claims state that although Miss Cleo's ads advertise a free reading, callers are redirected to a 900 number which is reported to charge $4.99 per minute. Over six million people made the call, apparently thinking that although all other 900 numbers cost money, this one was free.

There's a point when the victims might be causing part of their own pain. This woman's TV ads say she is a psychic. It's a cliche point, but it's a good one: If she's really a psychic, why does she need to make money off other people. Can't she just predict lottery numbers?

The Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Protection Chief Howard Beales is quoted arguing against the companies. "I'm no psychic but I can foresee this: If you make deceptive claims, there is an FTC action in your future." Yes, any person or company making deceptive claims in ads should be punished and taken off the air. But who are these 2,000 people who actually decided that this mystical woman with her head wrap and Jamaican accent actually was talking to them personally?

The article reports that callers who dialed the magical digits were harassed with up to 10 calls a day from the agency, usually recordings that "Miss Cleo had a dream about them and they should call back." This was probably the heads-up to many patrons, but there had to be a few that called back wondering what Miss Cleo had seen about their future in her crystal ball slumber.

Has the term "buyer beware" been lost on this segment of our population? Are these the same people that buy soft pretzels off street corners then complain when they get stomach aches?

It's not to say that psychic reader's aren't legitimate. The ignorance here comes in the consumer and company relationship. Logically speaking, why would a company not charge any money for its services and still be able to have commercials plastered all over late-night cable access channels? Perhaps these customers really did assume that she was making her money off the Florida Lottery.